SEATTLE — Air quality is slowly improving in western Washington after reaching unhealthy levels, one day after the area held its Independence Day celebrations.
Measurements showed air quality in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties ranging from "unhealthy" to "hazardous" Wednesday morning. By Wednesday afternoon, air quality improved to "moderate."
The poor air quality is a combination of smoke from existing Canadian wildfires, numerous brush fires sparked across western Washington and fireworks on Tuesday. These conditions were made worse by light winds overnight that failed to disperse the smoke.
At one point Wednesday morning, Seattle had the third-worst air quality in the world, according to IQ Air. The city's air quality has improved since the early morning hours but it still remains unhealthy for sensitive groups.
MORE: Western Washington forecast
Lakewood had a 350 Air Quality Index (AQI) just after 6:30 a.m., meaning its air was "hazardous" and posed a health warning for anyone. When the air reaches a hazardous level, its recommended to wear an N95 mask to limit the dangers present from breathing in the air.
Here are the air quality levels to monitor, according to AQI levels:
- 0-50 AQI: Good air quality
- 51-100 AQI: Moderate air quality
- 101-150 AQI: Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- 151-200 AQI: Unhealthy
- 201-300 AQI: Very unhealthy
- 301+ AQI: Hazardous
As western Washington hits up Wednesday the pollution will be mixed into more air, which will dilute it and improve the air quality. The KING 5 First Alert weather forecast projects the Snohomish and Pierce counties to have unhealthy air quality throughout the day. King County is likely to have an AQI of 101-150, meaning the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
The high temperature for Seattle is expected to be about 88 degrees on Wednesday.
Puget Sound Clean Air Agency Air Quality Specialist Isha Khanna says the agency has been monitoring reports of air quality and saw the effects of wildfire smoke and fireworks across Western Washington. Thankfully, conditions improved throughout the day.
"Due to the good conditions- good wind and mixing today- we are already now in moderate condition and expect conditions to improve from here and out," Khanna said.
The PSCAA provides forecasts and resources for checking whether the air near you is healthy. To view them, click here. The EPA's Air Quality map is another option.